I may be wrong, but I believe the Broncos '97 helmet was the first in NFL history to have a center stripe that tapered from thick in back to a point in the front.
If I recall, the local urban legend was that Elway thought the all blue kit looked ridiculous and that was the reason it disappeared before the 97 regular season began.
Also I’ve always found it curious that the jerseys got an alteration in the spacing of stripes and numbers on the front between 97 and 98. In the originals, the stripes all converge at just about the point of the collar. The next year the shoulder stripes end considerably higher up. Also the “Broncos” word mark and front numbers are all much closer to the collar tip in 97 than in 98. I never understood the reason for those changes.
There was a lot of unhappiness about the change from orange to blue in Denver. At some point Pat Bowlen assured people the new uniforms would still be predominantly orange. That gave way to about a decade of local writers using the word “predominantly” in quotes for almost anything that they felt was disingenuous.
And I agree there was definitely a name for that triangular collar panel. Normally I would search Uni-Watch for something like that. Lol.
One question remains...Why the hell didn't they make the panels on the road jersey orange?!? There is virtually no orange on the road kits, making them look bland as hell, plus then there would have been no need for the white pants w the blue panels (until the orange jerseys in 2002)...then they could have actually matched the blue pants with the white jersey....AND dear lord at the VERY LEAST make some orange pants with blue panels for this same purpose with the current kit. that way you could match the road kit up well and use a mirror effect with a blue jersey w orange panels and orange pants with blue panels, which would look a lot better than their Frankenstein mashups they wore twice last year. Sure seems like bland planning for some out there at the time designs.
Giants now also have 2 different sets of white pants (one for home with blue/grey/red/grey/blue and another for away with all red northwestern stripes). Cleveland also did in 2003 (one for home with a white space in btw their new brown/orange/brown striping and one for road with no white spaces).
Thanks for this, Zachary. Can't believe I didn't think of the Giants. This is a great example of what happens when I write about football during baseball season -- my brain isn't fully in football mode!
It's fair, its a relatively new change. The really obscure one is the Browns...pretty sure the 2 sets were for only 2003, maybe 2004 occasionally, and then went solely brown/orange/brown before going back to orange/brown/orange in 2006. I mainly remember it bc Jamal Lewis set the single game rushing record against them in the weird ones with the white spaces. I never miss anything ;)
Hi, Paul - You mention that the Broncos are the only team to have worn a team logo-emblazoned belt buckle sleeve as part of their uniforms. I think it's possible that at least one other team did it - the Miami Dolphins in the early 2000s. Check out these shots of Dolphins QB Jay Fiedler circa 2002-03:
I haven't been able to determine yet whether this was a team-issued piece of apparel or a customized item that only Fiedler wore, but I may try to dig deeper when I have more time.
Hi, Kary. I added an update about the Jets and Titans also wearing the belt accessory. Wasn't aware of the Dolphins but will look into it to see if was more than just Fiedler.
Thanks, Paul! I love love love this deep dive on a uniform set for which, as a lifelong Broncos fan, I have extraordinarily complicated feelings. I agree with so much of your opinion on them (especially when compared to their classic look from 1968-1996), but I still have a fondness for them because of what they've accomplished in them. But I agree that, after 26 years, it's time for a change. I'm hopeful to see what's next, but hesitant because Nike's involved (again) in the makeover.
My high school football jersey ('08-'10) had the same piping and thought it was the coolest thing. At the time I assumed it was inspired by the Cal Bears but now realize UofC was influenced by this historic broncos template. Thank you Paul for educating
This team needs new uniforms desperately. Please, please go back the Orange Crush/80s style. At least they'll look better, even if they don't play better.
I always assumed that they designed the horse head logo first and then designed the awful standing horse logo around it. Its pose has never made sense and it’s always just felt out of place.
Always thought IMO that the blue version of this template is far superior to the orange and hate that they made the orange their main uniform now.
I may be wrong, but I believe the Broncos '97 helmet was the first in NFL history to have a center stripe that tapered from thick in back to a point in the front.
You can lead that horse to Atwater, but the unie still stinks.
I have a soft spot for this uniform tbh, think it got a lot worse though in the move from Reebok to Nike.
If I recall, the local urban legend was that Elway thought the all blue kit looked ridiculous and that was the reason it disappeared before the 97 regular season began.
Also I’ve always found it curious that the jerseys got an alteration in the spacing of stripes and numbers on the front between 97 and 98. In the originals, the stripes all converge at just about the point of the collar. The next year the shoulder stripes end considerably higher up. Also the “Broncos” word mark and front numbers are all much closer to the collar tip in 97 than in 98. I never understood the reason for those changes.
There was a lot of unhappiness about the change from orange to blue in Denver. At some point Pat Bowlen assured people the new uniforms would still be predominantly orange. That gave way to about a decade of local writers using the word “predominantly” in quotes for almost anything that they felt was disingenuous.
And I agree there was definitely a name for that triangular collar panel. Normally I would search Uni-Watch for something like that. Lol.
One question remains...Why the hell didn't they make the panels on the road jersey orange?!? There is virtually no orange on the road kits, making them look bland as hell, plus then there would have been no need for the white pants w the blue panels (until the orange jerseys in 2002)...then they could have actually matched the blue pants with the white jersey....AND dear lord at the VERY LEAST make some orange pants with blue panels for this same purpose with the current kit. that way you could match the road kit up well and use a mirror effect with a blue jersey w orange panels and orange pants with blue panels, which would look a lot better than their Frankenstein mashups they wore twice last year. Sure seems like bland planning for some out there at the time designs.
I’m guessing it’s because the previous road jersey/pants combo was also white with blue and only tiny trim lines in orange.
Boise State did this later with the same template I believe.
Exactly! and it looked great during that statue of Liberty play against OU
https://www.si.com/.image/t_share/MTY4MTU2ODQ1NzI1MTk3Njk2/ian-johnson-jared-zabransky-statue-liberty-boise-state-oklahoma-fiesta-bowljpg.jpg
Giants now also have 2 different sets of white pants (one for home with blue/grey/red/grey/blue and another for away with all red northwestern stripes). Cleveland also did in 2003 (one for home with a white space in btw their new brown/orange/brown striping and one for road with no white spaces).
Thanks for this, Zachary. Can't believe I didn't think of the Giants. This is a great example of what happens when I write about football during baseball season -- my brain isn't fully in football mode!
It's fair, its a relatively new change. The really obscure one is the Browns...pretty sure the 2 sets were for only 2003, maybe 2004 occasionally, and then went solely brown/orange/brown before going back to orange/brown/orange in 2006. I mainly remember it bc Jamal Lewis set the single game rushing record against them in the weird ones with the white spaces. I never miss anything ;)
Hi, Paul - You mention that the Broncos are the only team to have worn a team logo-emblazoned belt buckle sleeve as part of their uniforms. I think it's possible that at least one other team did it - the Miami Dolphins in the early 2000s. Check out these shots of Dolphins QB Jay Fiedler circa 2002-03:
https://www.espn.com/i/page2/photos/031111dolphins2.jpg
https://media.gettyimages.com/id/460686828/photo/jay-fiedler-of-the-miami-dolphins-participates-in-warm-ups-before-a-game-against-the.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=i0IHIzgyjuKOl1PR67P3e-1InkwlO1k2G55r-FY3T2I=
https://media.gettyimages.com/id/460686474/photo/miami-dolphins-vs-new-york-jets.jpg?s=2048x2048&w=gi&k=20&c=MRbkhxNjnWlDPeRUHwgFJn-3EoGrVNomNDnxRqtcx28=
I haven't been able to determine yet whether this was a team-issued piece of apparel or a customized item that only Fiedler wore, but I may try to dig deeper when I have more time.
Hi, Kary. I added an update about the Jets and Titans also wearing the belt accessory. Wasn't aware of the Dolphins but will look into it to see if was more than just Fiedler.
Cool. Thanks, Paul! It looks like the Jets might have worn their belt buckle sleeves as early as 2004. Check out these photos:
https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/jonathan-vilma-of-the-new-york-jets-celebrates-after-news-photo/51644826
https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/curtis-martin-of-the-new-york-jets-waves-to-the-fans-as-he-news-photo/51834325
Thanks, Paul! I love love love this deep dive on a uniform set for which, as a lifelong Broncos fan, I have extraordinarily complicated feelings. I agree with so much of your opinion on them (especially when compared to their classic look from 1968-1996), but I still have a fondness for them because of what they've accomplished in them. But I agree that, after 26 years, it's time for a change. I'm hopeful to see what's next, but hesitant because Nike's involved (again) in the makeover.
the horse in the secondary logo is clearly "skanking" / the signature dance of ska fans of this 90's era.
My high school football jersey ('08-'10) had the same piping and thought it was the coolest thing. At the time I assumed it was inspired by the Cal Bears but now realize UofC was influenced by this historic broncos template. Thank you Paul for educating
This team needs new uniforms desperately. Please, please go back the Orange Crush/80s style. At least they'll look better, even if they don't play better.
I always assumed that they designed the horse head logo first and then designed the awful standing horse logo around it. Its pose has never made sense and it’s always just felt out of place.
Man do I love a deep dive in NFL uniform lore. PL, thank you for bringing this to us.
Can you do the 80’s Falcons or even the Buc’s creamsicles?
The secondary logo's 'side panels' don't line up! Now that is on-brand!
Hey Paul - I think the Falcons of the early or mid 2000's had two different sets of white pants as well , which I thought was strange at the time too. Check this out (https://www.gridiron-uniforms.com/GUD/controller/controller.php?action=teams-season&team_id=ATL&year=2004). Great article.
Ah, good point! I'll add that to the text. Thank you!